when I built mine, I went to http://www.skipulk.com there is a free book on pulks to download. I used fiber glass poles from a farm supply company. Everything else is pretty simple to figure out. vinyl tubing, mend plates, and ring clamps are how I attached the poles.

I was going to build an elaborate sled that I had the plans for, not for any major expedition, rather for shorter multi-day ski-in climbing trips. I injured my back and was trying to do anything I could to avoid carrying a heavy load on it.

Most of the sleds/plans I looked at were rather large, expensive, and seemed worthy of a month+ long expedition,, but were definitely overkill for anything shorter.

I walked into WalMart one day, and there was a pile of almost perfect plastic sleds. At $9 each, I grabbed two, a top and a bottom. The way I look at it, is they may be smaller, but they carry more then I every could in a pack (even before the back injury). With a little sidewall addition between the top and bottom, I can effectively double the load capacity.

The part that I struggled with was coming up with a swivel for the pull arms that would swivel in any direction but still maintain the load. I finally settled on the ball swivel from a set of tailgate lift shocks, which was perfectly suited as it already has the mounting bracket on one side to fix it to the sled, and a threaded rod on the other to attach the pull arms.

What are you planning on using for pull arms and how are you planning on attaching it to yourself?

That was a good post, thanks. I'm not really sure how i will go about attaching everything... Though at this point I might not have anything to attach to. I've been to over ten stores in the last 24 hours looking for sleds, and none of them are selling any. The fucking morons have already moved on to inflatable pools and lawn chairs.

I would do that, but, I seem to have left this off until the last minute, and need them by tuesday at the latest. Haha. I think i found a store that still has them though, will head there tomorrow to check it out.

for my katahdin trip this january I used your standard 4' kiddie sled. my sophisticated hauling device consisted of webbing, two pvc pipes, and an old backpack's waist band. use your imagination about how that all fit together.

the pvc pipes sorta come in handy with controlling the sled on downhills, but in retrospect they seem unnecessary. for my next trip to katahdin, I'd consider forgoing the pipes entirely and just drag the sled with cord. I haven't experimented with this at all though, so take it with a grain of salt.

the problem with the pipes is that, your range of movement is restricted to a wide arc around the sled, which is annoying when your sled tips over ten times in thirty feet. I also used my ski poles just as much to control the sled. when it comes to downhills, you either run with it like a madman or jump on and enjoy the ride anyway.

the above only applies to hiking trails though. I would think running out of control on a glacier would be very much unadvisable. in Maine I think it's ok.

but all this is at least one order of magnitude less important than keeping your sled stable. as much as you will try to put all the heavy stuff on the bottom, for some reason the sled just likes to lie down. if you don't have the packing system dialed, at least make it simple enough to shift things around.

I just checked the weather for this week, and holy frig is it warm up there. hope your trip is awesome!

In the process of building a Pulk Sled for an upcoming trip to Katahdin. Just though I'd check here and see if anyone had any tips or good ideas that they would be willing to share. Thanks!

Alpine, I have been into Katahdin 4 times in Winter, and each time I used the same sled that I made in 1980; in fact I still have it today.

I used a 4 foot plastic sled as a beginning, then made a plywood boomerang shape to fit under the front where the plastic rolls over. Above the plastic roll I added a half moon of plywood, then bolted through all three layers sandwich style with the sled being in the middle.

To the top layer I bolted (through bolts with lock washers, not screws which could strip out) two tee hinges so that the long legs extended out the front. This was through bolted to about 9-10 feet of aircraft quality aluminum, but a heavier material like electrical conduit would work as well.

Do not use pvc pipe here, and especially avoid just rope. PVC has little torsional value and will let the sled flip over sideways. With my rigid aluminum, I never had a turn-over, except for a few major crashes that were my personal problem, not the sleds. Also, the road to Katahdin is full of ups and downs. If you just use rope, then the sled will crash into the back of your calves on every downhill. With rigid stays, if you stop, it stops; if you go, it goes.

Attachment from the aluminum to my waist was as follows: I cut a plug of wood dowel equal to the inside diameter of the tubing. I rounded one end, and then slid it into the tubing so that the rounded end extended past the end of the aluminum. One screw through the aluminum and into the dowel held it in place, although the dowel was also carefully friction fit. I then drilled a hole all the way through the dowel and tubing and smoothed out the edges. Through this I placed loops of 4 mm perlon tied with a double fisherman, which I attached through the sides of a home made haul bag waist belt. That is what pulled the sled, and I have yet to replace any part of this system.

With this set up I safely hauled 80 lbs on the sled, but you should also plan on skiing in with a 25 lb-ish pack on your back to put weight over your skis and to give you ready access to stuff you will want during the approach. It is a pain in the derriere to undo the waist belt and ski back to the sled for an extra hat or water.

You will need skins for the 3 miles from Togue Pond into Chimney. Use them on the descent as well to help limit your speed on the narrow downhills.

Let me know if you have any questions. I suppose I could photograph details of my sled if you need them.

Best of luck, and have fun. If you need route suggestions or beta, I am your man.

You will need skins for the 3 miles from Togue Pond into Chimney. Use them on the descent as well to help limit your speed on the narrow downhills.

Cheers, Loran

Loran gave an excellent answer. One small point regarding the quote above. Either he needs to change the "3" to an "11" or change "Togue Pond" to "Roaring Brook" - which is what he meant

Dammit, Eric caught me. I did mean, in fact, that you will need skins for the 3 miles from Roaring Brook to Chimney, and back again. You will not need them on the 11 mile leg from Togue to Roaring brook and back.

Oh, hey Eric, remember when I beat you at that one comp, even though I am 10+ years younger than you and you were in crutches at the time and you had beaten me at the previous 16 events? Yeah, REMEMBER THAT?

And for a little tease, here is the South Basin with Cilley-Barber(ice on left/center) and the Armadillo(rock buttress right of center) prominent. CB is not to be missed, and Gallery Route is also stellar. Definitely plan on doing the entire knife edge from Baxter to Pamola and down, and if you get on CB, truck left at the top out of the gully of boring snow slogging and treat yourself to some excellent but easy mixed ridge climbing in a perfect setting.

Oh, hey Eric, remember when I beat you at that one comp, even though I am 10+ years younger than you and you were in crutches at the time and you had beaten me at the previous 16 events? Yeah, REMEMBER THAT?

Well so do I.

B!tch.

I seem to have forgotten all about that. Got proof?

But I got the best validation that I don't have both feet in the grave from Zeb last Saturday. After he carried up rack and rope, after he led all of Pinnacle, after we downclimbed South and fought through some wicked spindrift to the top of Damnation - we were huddled behind the cairn there, contemplating the beating we were going to take going across the Garden when Zeb said "Dad, can you carry the rope down?". Ha. Who's your Daddy?

Oh, hey Eric, remember when I beat you at that one comp, even though I am 10+ years younger than you and you were in crutches at the time and you had beaten me at the previous 16 events? Yeah, REMEMBER THAT?

huddled behind the cairn there, contemplating the beating we were going to take going across the Garden when Zeb said "Dad, can you carry the rope down?". Ha. Who's your Daddy?

You raised a smart one; he obviously knows when to call in the muscle.

olderic wrote:

How's Meg?

Meg is awesome. Graduating summa cum laude in 2 months from RWU with majors in math and education. She has a fairly serious relationship that will keep her in RI for a year at least, so she is seeking out teaching jobs in the Providence area. Currently she is working nights and weekends at Carabiners to make cash.

Thanks so much for all the info. Some really great posts on here since I checked last. Just got the sleds all put together, and while it is not exactly the best setup, I think it will work for this trip. I'd love to take more time and make one like you did. But I am at work until seven, leave for Lancaster immediately, and then first thing in the morning to Maine! So I'm thinking what I have right now will have to do. Haha. I'm all around pretty excited to be getting away, I've been so busy all winter that this will be the first ice climbing of the season for me. Should be a blast. I've been trying to make it to Katahdin for a couple winters now, so I'm pumped.

Matt, if you have any last minute questions before you leave, I will be happy to try to check in here every 1/2 hour to help out. Sorry I didn't see this sooner.

One last thing, even though it has become a bit cliche.

Bring duct tape and bailing wire!!!@!! I used them both to resurrect my partners sleds and ski poles countless times. If you have one, bring a Swiss army knife with a tree saw; saplings are awesome for repairing sled poles or ski poles when buddied up with bailing wire. Use enough duct tape to cover both and the Baxter State Park Authority can't nail you for destroying the flora.

One trip I developed a humongous blister on my heel during the first day of skiing in. By the time I stopped to take a look, a tennis ball size patch of skin and ooze came with my sock. I squirted in a quarter tube of antibiotic ointment and covered it with a large dose of duct tape applied directly over the wound.

It hurt like hell to pull it off, but that was 12 days later and it got me through the remainder of the trip.

Thanks man. And no worries on not seeing this sooner. I didn't find suitable sleds to use until yesterday, everything has been a bit rushed getting ready, but it all came together yesterday. So everything is a go at this point. Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely throw some duct tape and and such in my bag in case there are any failures of equipment. Ha, hopefully not. Duct tape is the shiz! Thanks again! And I'll definitely post up if I have any questions.

Thanks man. And no worries on not seeing this sooner. I didn't find suitable sleds to use until yesterday, everything has been a bit rushed getting ready, but it all came together yesterday. So everything is a go at this point. Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely throw some duct tape and and such in my bag in case there are any failures of equipment. Ha, hopefully not. Duct tape is the shiz! Thanks again! And I'll definitely post up if I have any questions.

Just got back to PA today from an absolutely fantastic trip to Katahdin. Couldn't have asked for anything better, the weather was perfect, the ice was great, it was just an all around good time. Sleds worked quite well, and made the trip back out super fast. The sled ride from Chimney Pond to Roaring Brook was so sweet. Probably hit at least 30 mph on my sled, haha. Anyway, quick summary of the trip: hiked in on Thursday, climbed Pamolas Furly Left on Friday, took a rest day on Saturday, climbed Cilley Barber, summited, and then went down to Roaring Brook on Sunday, and then hiked out and drove back to PA on Monday. Sweet trip for sure. I'll throw a couple of pictures on here in a bit. Thanks!

Ya man, I've never seen weather that nice in the mountains. Blue skies every day, highs in the 50s. The coldest night was something like six degrees, but that was about it. Saw a bit of wind and clouds on our last day of climbing, but that made the climb more enjoyable not roasting up there.

Sweet picture! That was about what I was expecting it to be like, but I'd say we got super lucky. Woooo! Now it is time to lay around and eat for a solid week, hahaha.

Thanks! We were camping out. Though we made friends with a group in the bunkhouse and hung out there in the evenings. We also left our boots in there the night before the Cilley-Barber! Nothing like starting off with warm boots. All around an awesome trip.